“Made in America”
The Sopranos episode
Episode no.	Season 6 Episode 86
Guest stars	see below
Written by	David Chase
Directed by	David Chase
Production no.	621
Original airdate	June 10, 2007 (HBO)
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Episode chronology

"Made in America" is the 86th and final episode of the HBO television series, The Sopranos. It is the ninth episode of the second half of the sixth season. It was written and directed by series creator David Chase, marking the first time Chase has directed an episode since the series premiere. It first aired on Sunday June 10, 2007, attracting 12 million viewers, the largest audience since the season five premiere.^[1]

The plot details Tony Soprano's attempts to avoid assassination, marked by rival mob boss Phil Leotardo of the Brooklyn-based Lupertazzi family in the previous episode. The closing scene of "Made in America" has been widely discussed and debated. Specific elements of the scene, including the use of Journey's song "Don't Stop Believing" and the concluding shot have been the subject of criticism and parody.

Plot summary

The episode opens with Tony waking up in the bed of the safehouse. The core surviving members of the crew are there, and have been for some period of time, and a cat has taken to living with them. Tony has a meeting at a nearby airport, offering Agent Dwight Harris the name of the bank used by the two Arabs who frequented the Bada Bing. In return, Tony asks Harris if he knows Leotardo's location but Agent Harris reproaches him for "overreaching." Tony is next seen at the safe house where his family is living and AJ is then shown developing his relationship with Rhiannon.

The next scene begins with a video of FBI surveillance of Bobby Baccalieri's funeral. At the dinner afterwards, AJ announces his disaffection with the American Dream and the government's war on terror to the people at his table, telling them that they are all "living in a dream," but most of them express disinterest or confusion.

At the safe house where Tony is staying, members of his crew bring their payments to him and they are all light, signs that the war is affecting everyone's business and that the Soprano crew is feeling the pinch. In a surprise move, Agent Harris notifies Tony that calls allegedly made by Leotardo are coming from a payphone in Oyster Bay, New York. Tony's crew sets out to look for gas stations containing payphones, but they are unable to locate Phil.

Once again, we overhear FBI surveillance, where Tony appears to ask a neutral party to arrange a sitdown with Butchie. Tony and Paulie have a sitdown with Butch DeConcini and Albie Cianflone, hosted by George Paglieri. The Lupertazzi family members agree to stop pursuing the war. Butch refuses to tell Tony where Phil is hiding, but tells Tony "do what you have to do." Tony also asks for reparations for the killing of Bobby Baccalieri and Butch agrees to a monetary payment for Janice at a future date.

Tony then comes out of hiding and he and his family return to their North Caldwell home. His crew returns to the Bada Bing. Meadow plans a wedding with Patrick Parisi. Life begins to return to normal for Tony, his family and his crew. The exception is AJ, who decides that joining the Army is his only recourse to contribute to fixing things, but both his parents and his girlfriend Rhiannon are against this. AJ as well as Tony and Carmela are shown discussing this turn of events with AJ's therapist. Ultimately though, Tony and Carmela distract AJ from his Army ambitions by getting him involved in producing a movie with Little Carmine's production company, and supplying him with a BMW M3 to replace his SUV, which burned to a crisp after he injudiciously parked it in some dry leaves while listening to Bob Dylan and making out with Rhiannon.

Phil is shown getting out of his SUV at a gas station, and says goodbye to his wife and grandchildren. Walden Belfiore shoots him once in the head and a second time in the chest, killing him as he stands by the passenger side window. Belfiore escapes in a Chrysler 300 driven by Benny Fazio while Phil's wife Patty jumps screaming from her vehicle. The Expedition is left in drive, however, soon crawling forward and crushing Phil's head, causing an onlooker to vomit. Ron Goddard, an agent with the FBI, is seen notifying Agent Harris of Leotardo's death, causing Harris to exclaim, "Damn! We're gonna win this thing."^[2][3][4]

Tony visits Silvio, who remains in a coma. Tony's lawyer Neil Mink informs Tony someone is testifying to a grand jury (Tony believes it to be Carlo Gervasi) and that Tony is likely to be indicted. Tony offers the leadership of the Aprile crew to Paulie. Paulie, unsettled by a stray cat that keeps staring at a picture of Chris in the backroom of Satriale's, also feels superstitious about the apparent curse that has struck the leaders of that crew. After he turns down the offer, Tony says that he will offer the position to Patsy Parisi, which drives Paulie to accept the promotion after all.

Uncle Junior is visited in the state mental hospital by Janice who wants to find out where he has hidden his stash of cash, but his dementia is so far advanced that he doesn't recognize anyone. He thinks Janice is Livia, and that Janice's daughter Domenica is Janice. When she tells him that Bobby is dead, he answers "yeah, Ambassador Hotel," a reference to the location of the 1968 assassination of Bobby Kennedy. Tony finally goes to visit him hoping to convince Junior to turn over his stash to safeguard it for Bobby's children, but Junior doesn't recognize him or remember that he shot Tony. He looks confusedly at Tony, when Tony tells him that he was involved in "this thing of ours" and that "you and my Dad - you two ran North Jersey". Junior, surprised, simply replies, "That's nice."

At the end of the episode, Tony meets his family at a restaurant. He arrives first and selects Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" from the tabletop jukebox. Various people enter and Tony looks at each of them. Carmela enters and joins him, asking about his meeting with Mink. Tony tells her Carlo is going to testify. A.J. arrives next, complaining about the more mundane tasks of his job but quotes some of Tony's own advice: "Focus on the good times." After a moment, Tony reluctantly agrees. Meadow is late and has difficulty parallel parking her Lexus outside. A man at the counter orders coffee, looks in Tony's direction a couple of times, then walks towards him, going past to the restroom. Tony, Carmela, and A.J. each pop an onion ring in their mouths and finally, Meadow parks and rushes across the street, approaching the door. Tony hears the bell on the door ring and glances up. The screen then abruptly cuts to black and the music stops. After several seconds, the credits roll in silence.

Final scene interpretation

Vanity Fair stated in an early interview with David Chase that "in true Sopranos fashion, Chase won't have tied up all loose ends."^[5] True to the prediction, the ending is said to offer no closure or catharsis for viewers.^[6] A major point of contention among fans lies in the fate of Tony Soprano in the episode's final moments and thereafter: some interpret that he is killed while others believe that he remains alive.^[7]

One argument for the former points to a conversation that Tony had in "Soprano Home Movies" with his brother-in-law Bobby in which he comments on how suddenly and without sound death can happen in their lives as gangsters.^[8] When questioned on the theory, HBO spokesman Quentin Schaffer stated that the conversation is a legitimate hint.^[9] The final scene showing a man credited as "Man in Members Only jacket" who goes to the bathroom has been interpreted as a nod to Tony's favorite scene from The Godfather in which Michael Corleone retrieves a gun from the bathroom before shooting his enemies.^[10] The jacket has also been speculated to be a reference to the title of the opening episode of the season, where Tony is shot, and as a symbolic reference to membership in the mafia by the 'mystery man'.^[11]

Arguments are also made with equally strong conviction that the meaning of the final scene was that life is fraught with fear and danger but it goes on, as the lyrics of the closing song are believed to imply.^[7][12] Supporters of this interpretation point out that because of Tony's peace agreement with the Lupertazzi family and their tacit sanction of a hit on Phil Leotardo, there was no legitimate basis to expect a hit on Tony Soprano.^[13] It is also interpreted that as Meadow walked through the door, Chase cut away at the precise moment of Tony's unknowing apprehension, a feeling that would consume the rest of his life.^[14]

Another interpretation is that the final scene allows the viewer to create one's own ending to the series, or no ending at all, allowing the plot to continue in one's mind.^[15]

Chase, in his first interview after the airing of the episode, said the scene speaks for itself:^[3]

“

I have no interest in explaining, defending, reinterpreting, or adding to what is there. No one was trying to be audacious, honest to God. We did what we thought we had to do. No one was trying to blow people's minds, or thinking, 'Wow, this'll (tick) them off.' People get the impression that you're trying to (mess) with them and it's not true. You're trying to entertain them.

”

Chase also stated that the series ending was planned during the 21-month hiatus between seasons five and six, a "long break" Chase asked for when approached about another season.^[3] Reports also indicate that Chase had a definite ending in mind^[9] and that he initially intended the cut to black to last thirty seconds.^[16] He also denied that the ending was a setup for a future film.^[17]

Chase later commented:

“

I wasn't going to do this, but somebody said it would be a good idea if we said something about that ending. I really wasn't going to go into it, but I'll just say this...when I was going to Stanford University's graduate film school and was 23 [years old], I went to see Planet of the Apes with my wife. When it was over, I said, 'Wow...so they had a Statue of Liberty, too.'[18]

”

Guest starring

Gregory Antonacci as Butch DeConcini Carl Capotorto as Little Paulie Germani Max Casella as Benny Fazio John "Cha Cha" Ciarcia as Albie Cianflone Miryam Coppersmith as Sophia Baccalieri Michelle DeCesare as Hunter Scangarelo Frank John Hughes as Walden Belfiore Geraldine LiBrandi as Patty Leotardo David Margulies as Neil Mink

Angelo Massagli as Bobby Baccalieri III Peter Mele as George Paglieri Donna Pescow as Donna Parisi Amy Russ as Female FBI Agent Daniel Sauli as Patrick Parisi Matt Servito as Agent Dwight Harris Jenna Stern as Dr. Doherty Maureen Van Zandt as Gabriella Dante Emily Wickersham as Rhiannon Flammer

Production

The final scene of the episode was filmed in Holsten's Brookdale Confectionery, an Ice Cream and Candy shop located in Bloomfield, New Jersey.^[19]

Journey's Steve Perry reports that he refused to let David Chase use their song "Don't Stop Believing" in the final scene until he knew the fate of the leading characters, and did not give approval until three days before the episode aired. He feared that the song would be remembered as the soundtrack to Tony's demise, until Chase assured that it would not be the case.^[20]

According to actor Matt Servitto (Agent Harris), the original scripted ending concluded with Meadow walking into the diner and the mysterious Man in Members Only jacket walking towards the table.^[21]

Reception

David Chase won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for writing "Made in America."^[22]

Aspects of "Made in America" have been widely parodied. The ending was spoofed in a promotional video produced by the Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign. ABC's World News Now also produced a segment replicating aspects of the final scene. New York radio station WCBS-FM alluded to the ending by choosing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" as the last song played before Jack FM reverted to an oldies format.^[23]

The ending was also referenced during the opening act of the 59th annual Primetime Emmy Awards. The act featured Brian and Stewie Griffin from Family Guy singing a tribute to various television shows including The Sopranos. They way they do this is by having Brian sing his part("Well the Sopranos is a show i recommend")then Stewie sing his part("Beacause you never know just how its gonna...")then the song is interrupted and the screen abruptly turns black.^[24]

References

External links

• Episode Description - The Episode Description on the HBO website.
• sfgate.com - An ending befitting genius of 'Sopranos'
• phillyburbs.com - Info about the "mystery" guest star.
• cnn.com - "Don't Stop Believin'" plays key 'Sopranos' role
• Chicago Tribune - Further thoughts on that 'Sopranos' finale.

The Sopranos
Characters:	Tony Soprano · Dr. Jennifer Melfi · Carmela Soprano · Christopher Moltisanti · "Uncle Junior" Soprano · Meadow Soprano · A.J. Soprano · Janice Soprano · Silvio Dante · Paulie Walnuts · Bobby "Bacala" · Johnny Sack · Vito Spatafore · Adriana La Cerva · Furio Giunta · Tony Blundetto · Ralph Cifaretto · Big Pussy Bonpensiero · Livia Soprano · Artie Bucco · Charmaine Bucco · Jackie Aprile, Jr. · Rosalie Aprile · Phil Leotardo · Hesh Rabkin · Richie Aprile · Carmine Lupertazzi · Little Carmine · Patsy Parisi · Benny Fazio · Little Paulie Germani · Eugene Pontecorvo · Carlo Gervasi · Agent Dwight Harris · Butch DeConcini
Fictional universe:	DiMeo crime family · Lupertazzi crime family · Satriale's Pork Store · Bada Bing · Cleaver · Death List · Timeline · Family Tree
Production:	Episode List · Writers & Directors · David Chase · Music · Awards
Games:	The Sopranos: Road to Respect · The Sopranos (pinball)

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